EDENVILLE

Preparations

By @lyttlejoe

The poetry contest had the town buzzing; everyone was caught up in Candice Fudge's dominant enthusiasm. Children ran from home to home with flyers promoting the event, trampling gardens in the process.
Franklin Boffinski had provided a promotional balloon, with a basket that carried Rosemary Tipplewuck reciting The Wind in the Willows through an air horn and young Garfield Weebol dropping leaflets advertising Fudge's store.
An untimely breeze carried the balloon over the church and snagged it on the steeple. Constable Breem bravely scaled the tower to write a ticket, lingering long enough for a photograph from anxious onlookers.
The hotel kitchen was another madhouse, with Bianca, determined to have the most lavish, catered menu for the winning poem celebration. Carlos steeled himself, casting off his memory of the fairy cake tragedy and set his mind to creating a life-sized, chewy granola statue of Keats.
Porter was slathered in so much cream to treat his skin allergy he slid off the doc's examination table and became wedged under the office desk. Pop Clogs, using his carpentry skills, made him as comfortable as possible while until the swelling receded.
Dipsy sat vigil on the doorstep where she could keep an eye on the realtor's office.
The Tiki Bar was home to all the amateur bards, serving up Flaming Stanzas and Spicy Haikus. Billie, having been rehired at lesser pay, served shocking green Limericks, fashioned from anchovy stuffed mushrooms coated in food colouring.
Jethro beamed.
Mayor Maynot was attending the poem readings as Sappho and Beulah was pressed into sewing his toga and giving him lessons on the lyre.